Most wonder how Dale Varnam stayed alive. Dale wonders why.
Back in the eighties, the quaint fishing village of Varnamtown, North Carolinaâfull of zany Southern charactersâgot rich, and so did town clown Dale Varnam, who perfected his own brand of crazy. Dale rose to the top of the heap in the drug smuggling biz, helping the townâs livelihood of shrimping go to pot. Although itâs not big enough to be on most maps, Varnamtown became the second busiest port of entry for illegal drugs on the Eastern Seaboard.
Dale Varnamâs misfit persona contradicts any preconceived notions of an international drug smuggler. His âgood olâ southern redneck personaâ belies his past ⌠and oh, what a past! During the 1980s, Dale Varnam was newspaper fodder. He was depicted as a âshow-off,â âhot dog,â and âhomicidal nut case,â until âarmed career criminalâ became the headline. The prankster extraordinaire now lives in a junkyard morphing into a grandiose roadside attraction of sorts called Ft. Apache, where a sign reads âA crazy place blessed by Godâs Grace.â How did Dale get here from what he was?
It took two Dalesânot just one. âNew Daleâ dusts off âOld Dale,â who danced with the devil for over twenty years. Between the Dales were ten years he considers a âvacation.â As an informant, he helped bring more than one hundred and fifty of those involved to grand juries resulting in over eighty indictments.
Many in Varnamtown succumbed to smuggling. This story does not leave themout; secrets are replaced by revelations, forgiveness, and healing. Forever changed, these God-fearing southern folks got caught up in crime, then caught, before eventually returning to their lives. The widespread corruption of law enforcement and politicians unfurls its tentacles through Daleâs tales.
From courting Manuel Noriega and Pablo Escobar to selling cocaine to Disney characters, from Playboy Bunnies mowing his yard to jungle labs where preserved tongues rested in jars, jaw-dropping events punctuate Daleâs story from beginning to end.